Hanging By a Wire Will Literally Take Your Breath Away

Having never been on a cable car in my life until last year, when I attended the Telluride Film Festival.  One of the films I screened was at a theatre which required me to board one at the top of the mountain.  As beautiful as the view was to behold, my fear nearly paralyzed me.  I couldn’t help wondering what would happen if a cable snapped and if I would have the mental preparedness to survive.

With a startling sense of immediacy, Hanging by a Wire transports viewers to rural Battagram, in northern Pakistan, to bear witness as this harrowing scene unfold, in real time and quickly becomes international news. With the clock ticking and pressure mounting, regional authorities, army commandos, and courageous local community members undertake dramatic risks to save the cable car passengers.

When the cable car’s wire snaps, eight passengers, including six schoolboys find themselves dangling 900 feet above a ravine in the remote Himalayan foothills. With 10 hours before the remaining cable is expected to fail, a group of rescuers races to save them.

Fault lines around class emerge in the process, begging the question of whose knowledge and expertise is valued and whose is instead dismissed, as well as why proper transportation infrastructure is lacking in these remote areas.

Drawing from up-close drone footage, on-the-ground recordings from the assembled community of onlookers, and skillful reenactments featuring actual participants from the incident, director Mohammed Ali Naqvi constructs a riveting, unforgettable, nail biting documentary thriller.

Humanity and the desire to put others needs above your own has never been more prevalent than during the rescue efforts displayed throughout the course of this heart stopping documentary.  Nothing was more fulfilling than witnessing the globe come together for the greater good.  But, for the eight people on that cable car and the brave men who risked their lives for complete strangers speaks volumes to what happens when humanity just act and reacts unselfishly.